Mega Man 10 DLC Goes Online

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Update your copy of the 8-bit throwback starting this week.

By Colin Moriarty

The month of March brought us Mega Man 10, one of the year's best games so far (you can read our full review on the game itself by clicking here). And now that we're in April, the downloadable content for the beloved 8-bit throwback will begin to flow out to consumers. Today on WiiWare (and later in the week on PSN and Xbox Live), the first batch of DLC can be purchased. Not only can you now play as the evil and devious Dr. Wily-created robot named Bass (last seen in the 16-bit titles Mega Man 7 and Mega Man and Bass), but we also now have access to the first of three "Special Stages" that can be played exclusively in Time Attack mode.

Let's start with Bass. Downloadable for a cool $2, Bass adds a third fully playable character to Mega Man 10's cast. Now gamers aren't limited to playing only as the Blue Bomber himself, or as his red-armored brother Proto Man. However, like Proto Man, Bass plays completely differently from Mega Man. He takes the same amount of damage as Mega Man (unlike Proto Man, who takes twice as much damage), but there are several caveats that will make playing as Bass a true challenge. For instance, Bass can shoot diagonally, up, down, left and right, but he can't shoot through walls, nor can he shoot while moving. And while he has the ability to shoot huge bursts of arm cannon fodder towards enemies, his standard weapon only does half the damage of Mega Man's arm cannon. Harsh! Making things easier, however, is Bass' ability to dash, using the same controller input that made Mega Man slide in Mega Man 3-6 (and beyond).

In Mega Man canon, Dr. Wily created Bass as a sort of antagonist to Mega Man. And since Mega Man has his own robotic dog, Rush, so too does Bass. Bass' canine is named Treble, and while he serves the same functions as Rush does in premise, he goes about things a little differently. For instance, Bass' standard Treble form is known as Treble Boost. When deployed, Treble will actually combine with Bass to form one robot, allowing him to fly around the screen while shooting plasma shots outward. In this respect, Bass and Treble act a bit like Mega Man and Rush do back in the late-release NES game, Mega Man 6. So Bass is a mixture of good and bad, of traits that make him both easier and harder to use. Nonetheless, he falls decisively on the harder edge of the difficulty curve, so if you're someone who has trouble with Mega Man 10 as it is, Bass will simply make things more annoying for you. Nonetheless, for everyone else, Bass is a steal at his super-low $2 price point.

As for Special Stage #1, expect to pay $1 for it. That's right – a dollar. Dirt cheap, and totally worth every penny. It's true that Special Stage #1 (along with the two forthcoming special stages, #2 and #3) can only be played in Time Attack mode, which is lame. Nonetheless, this is still a fun level to play through, and one that's extremely difficult, certainly on par with some latter Dr. Wily stages in 8-bit Mega Man games of yore. At the end of the stage, you'll be pitted against Enker, a boss enemy old-school Mega Man fans will recognize immediately, for he made his first appearance some twenty years ago in the Game Boy classic Mega Man: Dr. Wily's Revenge. This is the first time American gamers will have seen Enker since Mega Man V on Game Boy, so it's been a while. And for a dollar, you simply can't go wrong.

The great thing about playing through Special Stage #1 and defeating Enker (who is a bit of a pain, if you're curious) is that Enker's weapon, the Mirror Buster, will be available to use in the main game. Only Mega Man can use the weapon, unfortunately, but either way, you'll find the Mirror Buster to be as useful as it was back in Mega Man: Dr Wily's Revenge. Its ability to reflect enemy projectiles back towards them makes it both unique and powerful, so don't neglect to use it once you get back to the main game.

So for three measly dollars, you get an all-new playable character and a new, difficult stage to play through (and they can be purchased separately, if you so desire). Is it a bummer that these features weren't released with Mega Man 10 right off the bat? Of course, especially considering that some of this information (like Bass) appears to have been built into the game from the get-go. Nonetheless, Mega Man 10, itself only $10, is a game worth much more than you're going to pay for it. So what's another $3 to get more content to mess around with? Bass and Special Stage #1 are both worth it to fans of Mega Man 10, especially if they're looking to get extra mileage out of this 8-bit gem.